


And they'll find you, eventually.

by stuckwithminusharry



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (like mostly), Bisexual Character, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Ginny Weasley, Bisexual Harry Potter, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexual Ron Weasley, Canon Gay Character, Coming Out, Everyone Is Gay, Family, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gay Albus Severus Potter, Gay Character, Gay Male Character, Gay Seamus Finnigan, Hufflepuff Albus Severus Potter, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Lavender Brown Lives, Lesbian Parvati Patil, Married Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Minor Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas, Other, Pansexual Dean Thomas, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, coming out that goes super well, she's only mentioned to be non straight here but y'all she gayyyy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 06:09:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14889101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuckwithminusharry/pseuds/stuckwithminusharry
Summary: In which Al comes out to Harry, and Harry has some stories to tell.





	And they'll find you, eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> For so many reasons: because it’s Pride Month, and because I’ve finally seen Love, Simon, and maybe because Nick Robinson looks exactly like Al. And then I started writing and got sort of emo about all my rainbow friends. So, rainbow friends: I love you, even though I haven’t met half of you in person, I can’t wait to go to Pride with you on the 23rd - and I’m so glad we found each other. Happy Pride Month. x

 

**And they‘ll find you, eventually.**

  


Harry has yet to get used to the way his kids change now they all go to Hogwarts.

It‘s not just how fast it all goes, although that is driving him bonkers, too: It‘s the sheer bumpiness of the road. Somehow, he never sees the next little thing coming, the next change, and he‘s never quite prepared for where it takes them as they zigzag towards the people they’re going to be.

When they come home for the summer, Lily’s hair is wilder and shorter than ever. She uses her full name now – _Lily Luna,_ like that – and she’s developed such a potty mouth that Harry and Ginny seriously contemplate bringing back the swear jar. James is as gangly as ever, a tall bundle of unbridled energy and freckled skin dragged tightly over skinny bones, but he carries himself differently now – his movements aren’t as awkward as they used to be.

But this break it’s Al who Harry notices most. He‘s grown since Christmas break, almost an inch; but it’s more than height. He’s freshly fifteen, freckly like the rest of them, and somehow, his presence alone takes up more space than it used to. He no longer shrinks between his siblings, and when James picks on him in the car on the way home, even when Al can’t think of a retort quick enough, it helps that he’s learned how to jut out his jaw just like Ginny does.

So when he shuffles into the kitchen on the first day of their summer break, for a moment there, Harry is just as baffled as he was the day before, when they picked the kids up from London. All their little edges and corners that shift in their absence, and he can barely take them all in before they’re gone again.

“Mornin’, Dad.”

“You missed ‘morning’ big time, kid.” Harry peers at him from over his newspaper, which is prodding his elbow, demanding he finish the article he is supposed to be reading. “Already making full use of your holidays, then?”

Al shrugs and smiles as he slides into his usual chair. “Sure. Where’s everyone?”

“Mum’s up in her office. Lily’s out, and I haven’t seen James yet.”

“Yeah.” Al takes a bite of toast, and while he’s chewing, he keeps shooting Harry glances he thinks he doesn’t notice. “Dad, can I talk to you about something?”

Harry looks up at his son’s earnest face and puts his newspaper on the kitchen counter to indicate he’s listening. “Sounds serious.”

“It isn’t. But I guess it’s sort of important.”

Al has been making steady eye contact, holding his father’s gaze. Harry chooses just to nod – putting aside the realisation that that, too, is very much new. Al takes a deep breath.

“I‘m gay”, he says simply.

“Oh”, says Harry. “Okay. That’s great, kid.”

Al opens his mouth. “You heard me, yeah?”

“I did.”

“And you‘re not surprised or anything? That I‘m gay?”

“Who‘s gay?”, a voice calls from the stairs, and a thump and a second later, James enters the kitchen, sixteen-going-on-seventeen, redheaded, impossibly loud.

Harry glances at Al, who seems flustered for a second at the unexpected company – the cheery, oblivious, annoyingly confident company.

“I am”, he says defiantly and looks straight at James.

Harry smiles into his coffee.

“Cool”, says James easily. “Blimey, for a second there I was afraid you were gonna tell me you‘re a Hufflepuff. Catch you guys later, love you, Al.”

“I _am_ a fucking Hufflepuff!”, Al yells after him, but James is already headed to the front door.

“Oi!”, calls Ginny‘s voice from the first floor.

James takes the noise with him, and when the house is quiet again, Harry finds that Al is still watching him.

“You don‘t seem surprised”, he repeats – and he squares his skinny shoulders, still with that air of teenage defiance. “Or … I dunno, upset.”

Harry puts down his coffee and looks at Al with what he hopes is a soft expression. “Wanna go for a walk?”

A little while later, they‘re strolling down a quiet street not far from the Potter family home, on the sunniest day Godric‘s Hollow has seen all year.

“Al, I don‘t have a reason to be upset”, Harry says softly. “Well, I reckon I owe your Mum a galleon. As for being surprised … I don‘t know, do you want me to be surprised?”

Al shrugs. “So … you knew, then? And Mum knew? Wh–”

“She had an inkling, that‘s all. I wanted to withhold judgement – but we both know you‘re a bad liar, Al.”

“I didn‘t mean to – I _didn‘t_ lie. It‘s not like anyone ever – asked …”

“You‘re right. I‘m sorry. Can I try again?”

He waits for Al to nod, then says: “You‘ve always worn your heart on your sleeve, that‘s all. For one”, he says, “you never seemed to relate to James‘ crushes on girls very much. We‘re your parents, we notice that stuff.”

“Oh”, says Al. “No, I guess not.”

“That‘s okay”, says Harry.

“I _know_ it‘s okay.”

“And I still think you deserve to hear it, Al. No matter how much you already know these things – and I really hope you do – but we love you, and that very much includes you being gay.”

“I do know”, Al says quietly. “That‘s not why I didn’t tell you.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask”, says Harry. “Is there a reason?”

Al just shrugs. “The kids at Hogwarts – they say stupid things when they think they‘re talking about people who aren‘t present. ‘S not like they know they’re talking about me, too.”

Harry nods. “You know Dean and Seamus, right?”

“Sure. Painter, and Irish guy.”

“They started dating when we were in fifth year. And they were friends with some really good kids, which must have helped a lot – but there were still stupid, awful kids. Dean and Seamus are gutsy”, Harry adds, “but they had to put up with a lot of messed up things for a long time. Lucky your Mum gets really scary when she‘s standing up for people.”

They smirk at each other.

“The people who mattered, their friends, they all had their backs. We spent a fair chunk of fifth year telling people off for saying all sorts of stupid things, actually. Ron always got really upset.”

They round a corner and find themselves in the middle of town. Harry nods towards the park at the other end of the marketplace, asking without speaking, and Al nods, so they trod across the cobblestone street and disappear under dark green trees.

“It seems _lonely”_ , Al says. There’s a little pause, and then he continues, very quietly: “I’m the only gay kid I know of.”

Harry watches his son as they walk among the trees, sunlight splattered across his face.

“Dean was the first to come out, as pan. Then Seamus told us he was gay, and that they were dating. A week later we found out that Parvati wasn’t straight. And that Lavender was trans. Eventually, people from other houses, and other years, started speaking up. It all kind of exploded, just because one kid said something.”

Al seems oddly disheartened. “I don‘t wanna be that first kid, that‘s all.”

“I‘d be surprised if you did. But my point is, you‘re not the only gay kid. There‘s a whole bunch of kids just like you, they go to class with you, or sleep in your dorm, or share your cereal, you just don‘t know who they are yet. Kids like you tend to find each other. They’re there, Al”, he says sincerely, when Al just shrugs, “and they’ll find you, eventually.”

After a moment of silence, Harry continues. “There’s one more thing. I’m proud of you.”

Al grins, clearly embarrassed. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah, you did. Coming out is … incredibly awkward at best. I know. You’re brave, Al.”

“Ugh, you have no idea”, Al says. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, really, I just … kept waiting for the right moment, and it never came. I didn’t wanna do it in a letter.”

Harry nods. “I do have an idea”, he says quietly.

Al blinks at him. “But you’re not gay.”

They’ve arrived at the playground in the middle of the park. Harry remembers how much the kids used to love coming here: He can almost see James crashing down the slide at five years old, and Lily Luna’s bloody knees when she falls off the swings. He sees Al standing on top of the climbing frame, pretending he’s a fighting a dragon.

He looks over at Al, who seems to have gotten lost down a similar track of thoughts. “I only found out why Ron got so worked up about the stuff people said about Dean and Seamus years after we’d left Hogwarts. He’s bi.”

“Oh”, says Al. “I didn’t know.”

They sit down on the bright red bench by the playground, blinking into the sunlight.

“He doesn’t think it’s the most interesting part about him, so it doesn’t come up a whole lot. He also didn’t realise it back in school, but it must have clicked at some point. So”, he smiles at Al, “when he and Aunt Hermione got engaged, him and I went and got a bit smashed.”

Al grins.

“We got talking about girls we used to fancy, and at some point, it shifted from girls to, well, _people_ we used to fancy. And the more we talked about it, the more things started to make sense. _So_ much sense.”

Al’s face lights up, and he starts nodding enthusiastically. “I know. _I know.”_

“So, we figured that out for ourselves, and then we told our girlfriends – and yes, that was pretty awkward, even though we _knew_ they’d be fine with it. They’re not complete tossers. Wanna know what Mum said?”

“What?”

“’Oh, you too? Great, pass the cereal.’ She’s cool like that.”

Al looks as though he’s processing a lot of information at hyper-speed.

“Understand what I’m trying to say?”, Harry asks after a while, when Al doesn’t say anything.

“I mean – it sounds like you’re coming out to me, Dad.”

“Yeah, but that’s not the important bit”, says Harry. “The important bit is you’re not alone. Even if it looks like it. You’ll find the kids who get it.”

“Can’t wait”, says Al. “You make it sound so easy.”

Harry watches his son as they sit in silence. Al still looks pensive, but all the tension has vanished from his slender shoulders. Finally, after a minute, Al says: “You’re the first person I’ve told. Well, I reckon James knows, so Lily’ll know, and Mum …“

“I like to think he’s not daft enough to go tell them before you. That’s supposed to be your thing. And James loves you – said so himself just twenty minutes ago.”

“Yeah, that was the weirdest thing he’s ever said to me.”

“I’ll make sure to never let him live it down.”

“Thanks. Great.” Al grins, and draws circles in the sand with his shoes. “You know, I’m glad I told you.” He looks at Harry, and Harry looks back, smiling.

“Me too. I’m glad you trust me.” Harry reaches out and ruffles his hair before Al can complain. “One more question?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“How long have you known?”

Al shrugs. “I guess I’ve always known, but I only started to really _realise_ it … about a year ago. I don’t know, it’s hard to say when exactly.”

Harry nods. “And – does that realisation have a name, by any chance?”

” _Dad.”_

“Fine. Sorry. Won’t pry.”

Al is blushing profusely, but Harry is tactful enough to act like he doesn’t notice.

“There’s this boy in my Transfiguration class”, Al blurts out. “He’s in Ravenclaw, and he’s – nice.”

Harry grins to himself while Al clears his throat and looks pointedly at the abandoned swing-set, but when Harry looks over at him, he’s clearly smirking, wrinkling his nose in a way that looks remarkably like his mother. His face is all Harry – all slim jaw and green eyes and sharp nose – but the way it moves when he talks, and laughs, and shouts at James, has Ginny written all over it.

“What’s so amusing?”

Al shrugs, but grins. “Just … you really owe Mum a galleon?”

“Don’t remind her.”

Al is still smiling, and he wrinkles his nose again, in a way that is entirely new for him, but a familiar sight to anyone who’s seen Ginny Potter laugh. He sits upright next to Harry, squinting into the eleven a.m. sun. They always seem to grow in the places Harry least expects.

“Maybe I will say something.”


End file.
